GBH + BRASSICK + VIOLENT SOLUTION – THE HOPE & RUIN, BRIGHTON 13.2.26
Punk may have started in the late 1970s, but it was forever redefined by the second-wave UK ’82 street punk movement, of which GBH (aka Charged GBH) is one of the most prominent and influential. They advanced punk aesthetics through their own image and style, while their sound also became faster, louder, and fiercer.
1981 saw the release of the seminal ‘Leather, Bristles, Studs And Acne.’ 12” mini album on Clay Records, which was a must have vinyl disc for any self respecting UK82 fans, as well as their 7” ‘No Survivors’ and ‘Sick Boy’ singles, which dropped the following year.
1982 also saw the release of GBH’s first LP, ‘City Baby Attacked by Rats’, which reached No.17 in the UK Albums Chart, as well as No.2 in the UK Indie Chart. The band’s singles had also reached the UK Indie Chart, leading to an appearance on the UK TV programme ‘The Tube’, where they performed ‘Give Me Fire’ (UK Indie Chart No.2).
The success of the first album was repeated with their second LP, ‘City Baby’s Revenge’, in 1983 and saw more extensive touring in America and Europe and higher profile UK shows, with one of these being a gig I attended here in Brighton on 17th March 1983 at ‘Xtreems’ night at The New Regent which used to stand down the Eastern side of West Street. The band that night consisted of Colin Abrahall on vocals (1978–present), Colin “Jock” Blyth on guitar (1978–present), Ross Lomas on bass (1980–present) and Andrew “Wilf” Williams on drums (1978–1986).
Wind the clock forward (and many albums later) to the present day and the current GBH consists of singer Colin Abrahall, guitarist Colin ‘Jock’ Blythe, all-but-original bassist Ross Lomas, and long-time drummer Scott Preece in his fourth decade with the band. This is a lineup that knows each other well and has played together longer than many of their new fans have been alive!
Let’s face it, a GBH gig in Brighton is as rare as rockinghorse sh*t! And so there was only one place I was gonna be tonight, and that’s on Queens Road inside The Hope & Ruin, where the band are plying their wares for the very first time in their long career. Rude not to go I’d say!
We are in GBH’s company for an impressive 62 minutes from 9:48pm to 10:50pm for this sold out concert. During that period the quartet offload 22 in-yer-face numbers. The quartet take to the stage and I immediately notice that bassist Ross Lomas is missing and has been replaced by another guy. The guy deputizing for Ross (who is away in the USA) is announced during the set by frontman Colin as Seano Pour-Know McCann. It’s fair to say that when Joe Public thinks of the visual image of punk, that Colin Abrahall’s creamy blond dyed haired take on the Sid Vicious look is arguably what springs to mind, with his black leather jacket, black jeans with studded belt, heavy boots, and rugged features. ‘Jock’ straps on his flying V guitar and Scott’s behind the drumkit and they are away……
The venue is packed and comprises some Baby Boomers (1946-1964), a majority of Generation X’ers (1965-1980) and Millennials/Gen Y (1981-1996), as well as a few token Generation Z’ers (1997-2012). Black is the standard uniform, although there is a small smattering of colour. Another observation is that a sizeable majority of punters have refrained from purchasing a drink, which in my experience is rather unusual. Moving on…
GBH open with two cuts from 1983’s ‘City Babys Revenge’ album, these being ‘Diplomatic Immunity’ and ‘Drugs Party In 526’, but it’s for the third offering, their 1982 ‘Sick Boy’ single from ‘City Baby Attacked By Rats’ album, that they seriously open up the pistons and go for it, and as a result there’s a smattering of pumped fists in the air from the faithful gathered. By track four, it was as though Motörhead were in the building, as they brutally and relentlessly wade through ‘Slit Your Own Throat’ from 1982’s ‘Sick Boy’ single like a punk rock battering ram. You know they mean business when drummer Scott discards his t-shirt after just a few tunes!
Their ‘Leather, Bristles, Studs And Acne.’ mini album from 1981, was a regular feature on my turntable when released in 1981 and it was a joy to hear ‘Am I Dead Yet?’ from it get an outing tonight. After this we get the first of three covers in the set, this being their take on ‘Warpigs’ by Black Sabbath. After which Colin introduces ‘Maniac’ from ‘City Baby Attacked By Rats’ which goes down well with the crowd. After ‘Gunned Down’ from the same album, they offload yet another from the same LP. In fact they play seven in a row from it! These others being ‘I Am The Hunted’, ‘The Prayer Of A Realist’, ‘Heavy Discipline’, ‘Knife Edge’ and ‘Bellend Bop’.
‘I Never Asked For Any Of This’ from 2017’s ‘Momentum’ album is up next and is dedicated to both of tonight’s support bands. GBH’s ‘Generals’ earworm from ‘Leather, Bristles, Studs And Acne.’ is up next with its call to arms chorus “’Cause Britain needs you, Britain needs you; Britain needs you to die for her; Britain needs you, Britain needs you; Britain needs you to die for her, for her”. Their epic ‘No Survivors’ single is blasted at us next, which is always a set highlight for me. After this we get the title track from 2017’s ‘Momentum’ album, and then 1982’s ‘Give Me Fire’ single as seen on ‘The Tube’, which is introduced as ‘Dame Fuego’ and dedicated to the band’s Mexican friends. There’s more punching of arms in the air with the arrival of the title track from ‘City Baby Attacked By Rats’, which sees Colin state “City Baby” and fans replying “Attacked by rats”. Then the title tune from ‘City Baby’s Revenge’ follows as Scott is eagerly pummelling the drums, and ‘Jock’ is laying down the monster riffs to this pair of iconic punk tunes.
It’s now the end of the set, but the band saw sense in not bothering to fight their way through the crowd, in order to simply return again, and so Colin stepped off the stage and stood immediately in front of me at the crowd barrier, and his compatriots remained stationary on stage, whilst the fans shouted for more! Colin steps back on stage and they leave us with ‘Time Bomb’ from ‘City Baby Attacked By Rats’ and then he dedicates the final number to the “Friday the 13th crowd” and they explode with their take on Motörhead’s ‘Bomber’ which sees Scott’s foot pedal action going into overload, which I truly love! It was a treat seeing GBH live in action again!
GBH:
Colin Abrahall – vocals (1978–present)
‘Jock’ (Colin Blyth) – guitar (1978–present)
Seano Pour-Know McCann – bass (deputising for Ross Lomas – 1980–present)
Scott Preece – drums (1994–present)
GBH setlist:
‘Diplomatic Immunity’ (from 1983 ‘City Babys Revenge’ album)
‘Drugs Party In 526’ (from 1983 ‘City Babys Revenge’ album)
‘Sick Boy’ (from 1982 ‘Sick Boy’ single & 1982 ‘City Baby Attacked By Rats’ album)
‘Slit Your Own Throat’ (from 1982 ‘Sick Boy’ single)
‘Am I Dead Yet?’ (from 1981 ‘Leather, Bristles, Studs And Acne.’ mini album)
‘Warpigs’ (Black Sabbath cover)
‘Maniac’ (from 1982 ‘City Baby Attacked By Rats’ album)
‘Gunned Down’ (from 1982 ‘City Baby Attacked By Rats’ album)
‘I Am The Hunted’ (from 1982 ‘City Baby Attacked By Rats’ album)
‘The Prayer of a Realist’ (from 1982 ‘City Baby Attacked By Rats’ album)
‘Heavy Discipline’ (from 1982 ‘City Baby Attacked By Rats’ album)
‘Knife Edge’ (from 1981 ‘Leather, Bristles, Studs And Acne.’ mini album)
‘Bellend Bop’ (from 1982 ‘City Baby Attacked By Rats’ album)
‘I Never Asked For Any Of This’ (from 2017 ‘Momentum’ album)
‘Generals’ (from 1981 ‘Leather, Bristles, Studs And Acne.’ mini album)
‘No Survivors’ (from 1982 ‘No Survivors’ single)
‘Momentum’ (from 2017 ‘Momentum’ album)
‘Give Me Fire’ (from 1982 ‘Give Me Fire’ single)
‘City Baby Attacked By Rats’ (from 1982 ‘City Baby Attacked By Rats’ album)
‘City Baby’s Revenge’ (from 1983 ‘City Babys Revenge’ album)
‘Time Bomb’ (from 1982 ‘City Baby Attacked By Rats’ album)
‘Bomber’ (Motörhead cover)
www.instagram.com/gbhofficialuk
Second on the bill this evening are an outfit that I haven’t seen live before, this being Brassick, who advertise themselves as “Explosive midland based Hi-energy punk band. Fusing punk and metal influences”. Tonight is their first ever Brighton gig, despite the fact that the band have been releasing material since 2013. Brassick are made up of Nicola Brassick aka Nicola Hardy on lead vocals, Peter MacBeth on guitar and bv’s, George Chick on bass and bv’s, and Tom Fenn on drums. We are in their company for 31 minutes, from 8:58pm to 9:29pm and thankfully they only have to ditch one tune (‘Back To That Place’) because of time constraints.
The trio of lads announce their arrival with an ‘Intro’ thrash jam and they are then joined by Nicola and they segue right into ‘Same Sound’ which is from their 2015 self-titled album. Musically, I get the vibes of more recent Vice Squad material, as in having a more punk-metal direction, than solidly just UK82 punk. Nicola then informs us that they have come down from the West Midlands in order to play for us. This is something she shortly expands on. Nicola then unleashes her seriously rasping vocals on ‘39 Souls’ which can be found on their ‘2.0’ album from 2020. This certainly grabs the punters attention, and being the only girl on stage on the night, does seem to inspire the women in the crowd to take note of what Nicola is saying and doing. She then expands her account of her journey today to be with us, which seemed rather eventful from what I could make out: Train from Worcester to Paddington, then eventually getting to Gatwick, and finally Brighton, and then having to immediately find a chemist in order to purchase some medication for a sudden allergic reaction on her face and neck. Then heading onto Brighton Beach for a little cry! But now she’s with us and the crowd are very much on board, which surely must have made her efforts worthwhile.
The quartet then rattle through one more from their ‘Brassick’ album, (‘Cynical Ties’) and then offer us a trio from 2020’s ‘2.0’ album, which are ‘Vultures Of The Poor’, ‘They Say’ and ‘It Could Have Been Any Of Us’. All of these are delivered with speed and venom. After these, Nicola explains that the next offering was penned a few years ago as a direct result of folk in Blackpool, during the Rebellion punk festival, being so annoyed (at protestors?) that they went into Greggs and stole sausage rolls! As you do! The song in question is their 2026 single ‘Bakery Looters’, which segues straight into the final offering from ‘2.0’, this being ‘Nobody’. Their 2023 ‘Safety Is The Problem’ single came next and was particularly raspy on the vocals front. They signed off with ‘Strung Together’ from 2017’s ‘Appreciate Your Concern’ EP which witnessed Nicola having a wander around the crowd whilst offloading her lyrics. The up-close-and-personal event worked in the band’s favour and the crowd absolutely loved them! Job done!
Brassick:
Nicola Hardy aka Nicola Brassick – lead vocals
Peter MacBeth – guitar, vocals
George Chick – bass, vocals
Tom Fenn – drums
Brassick setlist:
‘Intro’ (unreleased)
‘Same Sound’ (from 2015 ‘Brassick’ album)
‘39 Souls’ (from 2020 ‘2.0’ album)
‘Cynical Ties’ (from 2015 ‘Brassick’ album)
‘Vultures Of The Poor’ (from 2020 ‘2.0’ album)
‘They Say’ (from 2020 ‘2.0’ album)
‘It Could Have Been Any Of Us’ (from 2020 ‘2.0’ album)
‘Bakery Looters’ (a 2026 single)
‘Nobody’ (from 2020 ‘2.0’ album)
‘Safety Is The Problem’ (a 2023 single)
‘Strung Together’ (from 2017 ‘Appreciate Your Concern’ EP)
Kicking off proceedings this evening were Violent Solution who hail from Colchester in Essex. Formed in 2016, the band self describe their music as an “uncompromising political blend of brutal hardcore and streetpunk”. They dropped their debut EP back in 2022 and all 4 tracks then re-appeared with 8 new tunes on their 2025 ‘Brutal Reign Of Terror’ album. The band comprises Kev Skunk (lead vocals and guitar), Paul ‘Spen’ Spencer (lead guitar), Stephen Nowak (bass guitar) and Pumpy (drums). As there was delayed entry into the first floor performance room due to soundchecks, the event was running behind. The end result being that Violent Solution’s 11 tune setlist, was culled back to a mere 8 numbers. We are in their company for 26 minutes, running from 8:15pm to 8:41pm.
The proposed first two numbers, ‘Total Annihilation’ and ‘Welcome To Hell On Earth’ (both found on their LP) are ditched and so Kev takes to the microphone and states “Oh what are we doing? Oh yeah….punk rock! This one’s ‘State Of Hate’” and they launched into the tune at 100mph. This very much sets the tone for the performance. Kev introduces the band’s next song, ‘Wankers United’, as an ode to prima donna football players with their over inflated pay cheques. Which as you can imagine is the polar opposite of everyone contained within the room this evening. Although I have to say that Spen’s six spiked haircut is far superior to any other haircut in the football league!
Kev next invites the punters to ‘Let’s Start A Riot’. Thankfully it’s the title of the next track as opposed to a rally call to physically trash the joint! There’s a rumble from Stephen’s bass and a screech of two guitars and they are seriously at it. It’s here that I note that the stage front and back lighting has been left on, which is unprecedented. In fact for the whole evening they remain so, with absolutely no flashing, variation or turning them off! Next we are treated to the first of two covers, this being ‘Razors In The Night’ which was released by Derbyshire band Blitz back in 1982. I bought the record on its release, having been on board since they dropped their debut release the year before, this being ‘All Out Attack E.P.’ Although I enjoyed ‘Razors In The Night’, I used to prefer the other side of the disc which featured the onslaught that is ‘Never Surrender’. Violent Solution give a good account of the track in a Blitz meets Sham 69 way.
‘Vote For Me’, dedicated to “the orange one over the pond”, came next and was delivered with real venom. ‘The Great Brainwashed’ was next and was a more melodic number, if you can ever say that of hardcore UK82 punk. The penultimate offering was their second cover, this being The Partisans’ ‘Police Story’ which came out in 1981 on the ‘No Future’ label. The tell-tale sign of the sound of all the material released by the label, were each records ‘Oi’ catalogue number, with this being ‘Oi2’, whilst ‘Razors In The Night’ was ‘Oi6’. I still haven’t got bored of ‘Police Story’, even after all these years: “James Kelly lied; He said what the cops wanted him to say; James Kelly told us; Of the shit that went on in the cell of his; Broke his ribs told him not to speak; Said you’re drunk now on your feet; Into the van Kelly did; Go never seen again now everybody knows; James Kelly you’re dead; James Kelly who cares?; James Kelly you’re dead; James Kelly cares; James Kelly’s dead”.
Violent Solution’s set was sadly coming to an end, but they just about had time to play ‘Punk And Proud’ which does exactly what it says on the tin. A rabble rousing singalong, with a chorus that gets well and truly stuck in your head. It’s fair to state that Violent Solution are flying the flag for all things sweary and spiky in the UK82 world.
Violent Solution:
Kev Skunk – lead vocals, guitar
Paul ‘Spen’ Spencer – lead guitar
Stephen Nowak – bass guitar
Pumpy – drums
Violent Solution setlist:
‘State Of Hate’ (from 2025 ‘Brutal Reign Of Terror’ album)
‘Wankers United’ (from 2025 ‘Brutal Reign Of Terror’ album)
‘Let’s Start A Riot’ (from 2025 ‘Brutal Reign Of Terror’ album)
‘Razors In The Night’ (Blitz cover)
‘Vote For Me’ (from 2025 ‘Brutal Reign Of Terror’ album)
‘The Great Brainwashed’ (from 2025 ‘Brutal Reign Of Terror’ album)
‘Police Story’ (The Partisans cover)
‘Punk & Proud’ (from 2025 ‘Brutal Reign Of Terror’ album)
www.instagram.com/violentsolution22
